If for some reason your notebook fails to boot and you need to access data on the hard drive (I assume there is nothing wrong with the hard drive itself), you can use an external USB enclosure. This method is very simple and could be very useful when you need an emergency access to your data on the hard drive.
First of all you’ll have to buy an external USB enclosure for notebook hard drives. These enclosures are inexpensive and usually you can buy them in any local computer store. You also can find a wide variety of external enclosures on the Internet. Make sure to buy a correct one, enclosures for ATA and SATA hard drives are different (the connector inside the case will be different). Usually the enclosure includes the case and the USB cables.
Now remove the hard drive from the laptop. For this example I’m using an ATA hard drive.
Open up the enclosure case and connect the hard drive to the connector inside. After that insert the hard drive into the case.
After everything is assembled, you are ready to connect this device to any working computer (notebook or PC). The enclosure cable usually has two USB connectors on one end, make sure both of them are connected to the computer. You don’t need any external power supply for the enclosure because the hard drive gets power through USB ports. If the computer you are connecting the enclosure to runs Windows 2000 or higher, you will not need any device drivers. As soon as you connect the enclosure to the computer, the external hard drive should be detected and recognized automatically. After that the external hard drive will appear in My Computer and you can access it as any other hard drive in the computer.
If you are getting “Access denied” message when you are trying to access your files on the hard drive, you’ll have to take ownership of a file or folder.
My previous post explains how to connect a notebook hard drive to a desktop PC via IDE hard drive adapter.
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January 5th, 2010 at 12:07 pm
Tim,
Just pull the connector off the hard drive.
What is your laptop model?
January 3rd, 2010 at 10:27 pm
Hello, I was reading through this because I need to take files from my laptop hard drive and transfer them to my desktop. The hard drive in my Dell Inspiron laptop I beleive is an IDE because it has 4 pins that are separated from the others as shown in the photos, however, the other 40 pins aren’t there. They have an adapter over them. I have heard that some laptop manufacturers put that adapter over the 40 pins so that it will connect inside the laptop, and that they are removable. I just have no idea how to remove it and don’t want to break it. Also, the HDD has a plastic piece at the non-connecting end so it can be securely screwed onto the laptop body. I have also read that those are removable so they will fit into the enclosures. I have no idea how to remove these two pieces and would appreciate any help you can give me. If I damage the hard drive while trying to remove those pieces my whole purpose of transferring the files will be void. Thanks for any help in advance.
Oh and in case this helps, it is a Fujitsu hard drive 2.5″ IDE (I hope, because I’ve already purchased an IDE enclosure.)
December 30th, 2009 at 7:21 pm
One more question..Were on the harddrive can I tell if it’s ATA or SATA I don’t see that anywhere…To help you out all I see is Seagate on the top.Then under 120gd it say’s serial AT disc drive..Do I to open to find out….Thanks….
December 28th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
Raymond,
Yes, after you install the hard drive into the enclosure you should be able to access it from any computer, laptop or desktop.
December 28th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
Hello…..When you say any computer do you mean if I use a HP harddrive it can upload my files on a Computer other than a Hp computer..for ex.acer..And my picture’s and stuff will show up on the new laptop…
December 24th, 2009 at 3:39 am
I tried the enclosure again and the connector will not fit with the pins from my hdd(they those flat square ones)so that one doesn’t work.
Please if you can tell me which one is that one from the pics from above.
Thanks again.
December 23rd, 2009 at 5:27 pm
Thanks for your reply.
As I said it is a laptop HDD. The enclosure that I bought doesn’t look like the one from the above picture. I don’t know what to do with that white connector (4pin). Could you tell me please what enclosure is used in the picture?
Thanks once again.
December 18th, 2009 at 9:30 am
Valentina,
Why do you think it’s a wrong one? The enclosure doesn’t work?
It’s an IDE hard drive and you need an IDE hard drive enclosure. I think you got the right one.
Install the hard drive into the enclosure and connect it to any working computer. If the hard drive is fine, it should appear in My Computer.
December 18th, 2009 at 3:19 am
Hi
I was reading this article which makes everything to look so easy. But I am still a bit confused.
I just bought an External 3.5” USB IDE Hard Disk Drive Case Enclosure and I bought the wrong one ( is got that 4 pin connector as well)and it says for IDE.
The HDD from my laptop looks exactly the same with the one from the pictures.I checked the part number over the internet and it is ATA(Toshiba MK6025GAS- 2.5″ – ATA-100 – 44 pin IDC).
Can anyone please tell me which USB enclosure do I need (obviously I would need a similar one with the one from the picture),but when I try to buy is so confusing.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thank you!
November 29th, 2009 at 11:34 pm
Barbara Collier,
Why would you want to transfer the operating system?
If your laptop hard drive is full, just transfer all personal files (images, music, video, documents, etc…) to the external hard drive and delete them from the laptop after that. This will free up some space on the laptop hard drive.